Bad news for home theater enthusiasts

@nonoise

You hit the nail on the head. Cable Internet infrastructure is the main problem in the United States. Most cable companies operate on physical cables that are 40+ years old and just cannot deliver higher speed Internet.

It should have been upgraded to fiber optic cable years ago, but it means a costly investment for them. When they advertise "fiber optic cable," it might mean they have it at some point in the line to your house, but not all the way. So basically it’s like taking a bullet train to the middle of Los Angeles, then being stuck in traffic for 2 hours for the last 10 miles to your house...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if OTA 4K broadcasts became a thing?

@nonoise  what would really be nice if you even attempted to google a topic you have an opinion about. You again fill this forum with just pure noise. 4K OTA broadcast are a thing already, has been for years and is slowly rolling out across the country. To me it is astounding how little you know about what you post.

https://www.watchnextgentv.com

Content providers basically care about only one thing - their bottom line and how to increase it. The quality of the video and audio of that content is a distant second, or maybe even third. Usually, a disc's maximum retail value is its price when first released, so the providers have no real motivation for supporting the format. The streaming format allows them to charge more for the same content, no matter how old it is. It's a mixed bag on streaming content quality - I watched the excellent Coen brothers movie, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, on Netflix and was generally very satisfied with the audio and video over my mid-level AV system. I scarfed up a few Oppo and Panasonic plasma TVs when each of those brands announced those products would no longer be manufactured, and I'm glad I did. To Nonoise, who is considering the Panasonic 820 player, that is a good choice (I got one when I dipped my toes into the 4k pool), but it made me sad to see the big difference in construction quality compared to the Oppo units.

I have been binge buying discs that are used on amazon, local shops, etc. for about the same cost as a rental. Then I rip them and watch on my zidoo player which upconverts to dolby vision. Works for me.

@fredrik222 

When I said "became a thing" I meant that to be a nationwide option. I've seen demos of it years ago. "Slowly rolling out" is a great understatement.  Why have you resorted to "hunt and peck" attacks? Slow day at the asylum?

All the best,
Nonoise